Remote controlled crane hook coupler

Abstract

A remote operable coupler for rapidly connecting the loading hook of a crane, or the like, to a load to be hoisted comprises a load collar that is attached to the load and an upper unit support on the crane hook. The load collar has a funnel shaped aperture vertically aligned therethrough and the upper unit has a depending lifting tube that is lowered into and through the funnel in the collar. Steel balls are located in radial holes near the bottom of the lifting tube and normally are recessed into an annular groove near the bottom end of a cam rod in the bore of the lifting tube. The cam rod is automatically moved by an actuator controlled by a switch that detects the seating of the lifting tube in the load collar to force the balls outward and against a locking shoulder in the bottom of the load collar funnel, and disengagement of the balls is made by a remote operator by either a radio control signal or an electrical signal that reverses the movement of the linear actuator and the cam shaft thus permitting the balls to fall back into the annular groove.

I claim: 
     
       1. A coupler controllable from a remote position for interconnecting a first member of said coupler that is attachable to a lifting device to a second member of said coupler that is attachable to a load to be lifted, said coupler comprising: the second member, said second member having a funnel shaped aperture on a substantially vertical axis, the broad end of said funnel shaped aperture being directable toward the first member of said coupler, the apex end of said funnel shaped aperture terminating in a base portion having an aperture coaxial with said funnel shaped aperture and connected therewith, said base portion having a substantially horizontal shoulder adjacent said base portion coaxial aperture and coaxial therewith;   the first member, said first member having an elongated tubular member extending from one end thereof upon a substantially vertical axis and directable toward said funnel shaped aperture in said second member, the distal first end of said tubular member having an outer diameter adapted to pass through said funnel shaped aperture and through the aperture in the base portion of said second member, said tubular member having near said distal first end a ring of radial holes of predetermined diameter through the wall of said tubular member;   a cam shaft extending from said first member and slideably extending within the bore of said elongated tubular member to a first shaft end at the distal first end of said tubular member, said cam shaft having at said first shaft end an annular ring having a diameter substantially equal to the inside diameter of said tubular member and an annular groove adjacent said annular ring and at a position corresponding to said ring of radial holes through the wall of said tubular member;   a plurality of balls each having a diameter slightly greater than the predetermined diameter of said radial holes through the wall of said tubular member, one ball of said plurality being positioned in a corresponding one of said radial holes and in said annular groove in said cam shaft; and   engaging means including an electrically operated linear actuator in said first member for sliding said cam shaft in a first direction in the bore of said tubular member whereby said annular ring at said first shaft end will force said plurality of balls from said annular groove and partially through the radial holes through said tubular member to a position that will engage the shoulder in the base portion of said second member, said engaging means further including a switch actuated by the seating of said first member into said second member, said switch in circuit with said linear actuator for actuating said linear actuator to slide said tubular member in said first direction.   
     
     
       2. The coupler claimed in claim 1 further including disengaging means within said first member and responsive to a signal from a remote location for actuating said electrically operated linear actuator to slide said cam shaft in a second direction in the bore of said tubular member to align said annular groove with said radial holes to thereby permit said balls to retract into said groove and disengage from said coaxial shoulder in the base portion of said second member. 
     
     
       3. The coupler claimed in claim 2 wherein said linear actuator is battery operated and is responsive to a disengaging signal detected by a radio receiver within said first member. 
     
     
       4. The coupler claimed in claim 2 wherein said second member has a substantially flat horizontal surface surrounding the broad end of said funnel shaped aperture, and said first member has a tubular member attachment collar having a flat horizontal ring adapted to contact the horizontal surface on said second member when the first end of said tubular member has passed through the apex of said funnel shaped aperture and the coaxial aperture in the base portion of said second member. 
     
     
       5. The coupler claimed in claim 4 wherein said engaging means includes a spring biased push rod slideably located in said tubular member attachment collar and on an axis substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of said tubular member, the first end of said push rod extending from the flat ring of said collar for contacting the flat surface of said second member, the second end of said push rod contacting a spring return electrical switch which, upon closure, operates a motor driven linear actuator coupled to said cam shaft for driving said cam shaft in the first direction. 
     
     
       6. The coupler claimed in claim 5 further including a television camera tube located in said tubular member attachment collar, said tube being directed toward a point on the axis of said tubular member and ahead of the first end thereof for directing the connection of said first and second members by a remote operator viewing the area covered by said camera tube. 
     
     
       7. The coupler claimed in claim 6 wherein said first member includes means at the end opposite said tubular member for supporting said first member from a crane hook. 
     
     
       8. The coupler claimed in claim 7 wherein said second member includes means for attaching said second member to a load to be lifted. 
     
     
       9. The coupler claimed in claim 8 wherein said push rod is electrically conductive and is insulated from said tubular member attachment collar and from said first member of said coupler, and wherein said second member of said coupler includes an electrically conductive ring on the top flat surface thereof and insulated therefrom whereby contact between said electrically conductive push rod and said conductive ring closes an electrical circuit signalling the approach of seating of said first member into said second member.